Wawel Castle is one of the oldest buildings in Poland. Bits of it were built nearly a thousand years ago. It has thick stone walls, golden-roofed towers, and rooms full of old paintings and tapestries. From the top you can see right across Krak贸w and along the curving river.
But ask any Polish child about Wawel, and they will tell you about the dragon. The legend goes like this: long ago, a fierce dragon lived in a cave at the foot of the castle hill. Every day it came out to gobble up sheep, and the people of Krak贸w were terrified. The king promised a huge reward to anyone who could get rid of it.
Many brave knights tried and failed. Then a young shoemaker called Skuba had an idea. He took a fat sheep, sewed it shut with sulphur and spices inside, and left it outside the dragon's cave. The dragon, never one to skip lunch, ate the sheep whole. Soon its tummy was burning. It rushed to the river and drank, and drank, and drank - so much that it puffed up like a balloon and burst!
Today there is a bronze statue of the Wawel Dragon by the river, right outside the real cave. Every few minutes it breathes a puff of real flames from its mouth, and crowds of children gather to watch. The story is one of the first that Polish children learn - it celebrates being clever rather than being the strongest.